The Able colours and shapes.

The experience of consuming media for people who access the world through sound, rather than sight, involves using a service called audio description (AD), which describes the on-screen visual content. Designed for viewers who are blind or have low vision, AD fits in the gaps of the media’s soundscape, integrating with the dialogue and score to enhance the media. Taken out of context, the descriptions can be as wild and wonderful as New Zealand TV.

Here are some gems from this year… Can you guess the show they were taken from?

  1. “The door closes, slicing off a suddenly visible tentacle.”
  2. “A man in tiny undies spins for the Queens as he enters, carrying Dame Edna style sunglasses.”
  3. “She puts frozen peas in her shirt, and frozen corn on her head.”
  4. “On a couch, an older man licks an ice cream cone, then offers it to his white chihuahua.”
  5. “She picks up the bowl of cream drenched pudding, and her lemon blossom cocktail and takes them outside. Little golden lights glow in the trees and shrubs that line the garden. She sits at the table on a red cast iron chair. She smiles as she eats a spoonful of pudding.”
  6. “He steps out of the shower and she hands him the mug, her gaze fixed on his muscular torso. He gazes at her with a knotted brow, and he goes back into the shower.”
  7. “Stephen freezes and covers his mouth with his hand. He’s mown over a plaque in front of one of the sculptures, tearing its face plate in half.”

Correctly identify all of the shows the AD excerpts have been taken from, and be in to win a prize from our friends at The Cookie Project, a social enterprise that employs Kiwis with disabilities to make award-winning delicious cookies. Email your guesses to at hello@able.co.nz by 5th January, or message your answers to our Facebook (ableNZ) or Instagram (@able_NZ) accounts.

Next in the journal:

A graphic image of an old-school TV with a scene of Pulp Fiction on it.

Blind people watch TV too

Audio description comes as standard on shows streaming on Netflix and other international services. So, Able Chief Executive…

Dan Buckingham, Jai Waite and Rachale Davis are on a stage together. Dan has brown hair, a white button-up shirt and is using a wheelchair, turned away from the camera. Jai is wearing a blue button-up top, using a wheelchair, and is in the middle of speaking. Rachale has blonde shoulder-length hair and a yellow top, looking over at Jai.

Navigating authentic representation of disability

During the annual SPADA conference this year, our CEO Dan Buckingham facilitated a panel with Jai Waite from…

Picture of Virginia Philp (who was part of AD's inception) smiling. She has shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes.

Decade of Able: Virginia Philp, team leader, audio describers

Virginia Philp leads our small crew of audio describers. She overseas everything audio description: recruiting, training and managing…

David wears glasses and a hearing aid, and smiles.

Decade of Able: David Kent, trustee

David Kent is a trustee on the Able board. Since 2005, David has chaired the Southern Hearing Charitable…

A photo of Clive Lansink, who has short grey hair and a grey moustache. He is wearing a blue, yellow and red checkered flannel button-up T shirt.

Decade of Able: Clive Lansink, Chair, Blind Low Vision NZ

Kia ora, Clive. I’ve heard that you were instrumental in audio description advocacy, prior to its introduction to…

A photo of Wendy Youens, who has straight brown hair just below her shoulders and blue eyes. She is smiling, wearing a bright blue top.

Decade of Able: Wendy Youens, founding CEO

Wendy Youens was the founding CEO of Able, having led its establishment as an independent organisation in 2013.…